About

Australian flutist Catherine Gregory has built a diverse and accomplished career as a soloist, orchestral player, chamber musician, and teaching artist. The New York Times has called her playing “magically mysterious,” also writing that “Ms. Gregory left a deep impression… her sound rich and fully present.”

Based in New York City, Catherine’s solo engagements have included appearances at the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts in Chicago, the National Gallery of Australia, the Australian-American Fulbright Commission in Washington, D.C., and the 10th International Flute Festival of Chile. She has performed at Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, Alice Tully Hall and at the Lincoln Center Festival. A sought-after chamber musician, she has been invited to the Mt. Desert Festival of Chamber Music, Scrag Mountain Music, Chestnut Hill Concert series, Lyrica Chamber Music, and Summit: Music in the Mountains Chamber Series. Her performances have also been heard live on ABC Classic FM (Australia) as well as WFMT Chicago and WQED Pittsburgh.

Catherine serves as a co-artististc director ofDecoda—Affiliate Ensemble of Carnegie Hall, and Resident Ensemble for Creative Performance at the Guildhall School in London. She is also a frequent collaborator with NOVUS NY, Ensemble LPR, the Locrian Chamber Players, NOW Ensemble, ECCE, Riverdale Sinfonietta, Metro Chamber Orchestra and has been a guest of the Springfield Symphony, the Jupiter Chamber Players, Princeton Symphony, Newspeak and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. In Australia, she has been a finalist in the Young Performer’s Awards, playing a live nationally broadcast recital on ABC Classic FM. She has appeared with the Southern Cross Soloists and the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, as well as on tour with the Paris Opera Ballet and the Australian Chamber Orchestra. She has played under the batons of such conductors as Harry Bicket, Robert Spano, David Robertson, Susanna Mälkki and Marin Alsop. Catherine’s repertoire spans from the Baroque to the present day. She has collaborated with such composers as Steve Reich, David Lang, Missy Mazzoli and The Brothers Balliett. This season, she commissions a new work for flute and piano from Pulitzer-finalist Timo Andres.

Passionate about education, community outreach, and musical advocacy, Catherine is an alumna of Ensemble ACJW: A Program of Carnegie Hall, The Juilliard School and The Weill Music Institute in Partnership with The New York City Department of Education. She is an active member of the Bridge-Arts Ensemble, performing outreach concerts at public schools throughout the Adirondacks, and has held the position of Artist-Lecturer of flute at Moravian College since 2015.

The recipient of numerous awards, Catherine has been a Fulbright Scholar, a Brisbane City Council Emerging Artist’s Fellow, and an American Australian Association’s Dame Joan Sutherland Fund grantee. She is a winner of the Pittsburgh Concert Society Competition, James Carson Flute Competition, Carnegie Mellon University Baroque and Concerto Competitions, and the Golden Key Visual and Performing Arts Achievement Award. She graduated with First Class Honours and the University Medal from the Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University (Australia) under the tutelage of Gerhard Mallon. After receiving her Masters degree with High Distinction, which included studies with Sally Walker, Catherine earned her Artist Diploma at Carnegie Mellon University (USA) where she studied with Alberto Almarza and Jeanne Baxtresser.

PRESS QUOTES

" Shafer Mahoney’s “Shining River” for flute and harp was one such piece. Relentlessly pretty and mournful, it progressed like a languid ice skater, with the flute drawing widening circles over gentle chords in the harp...Ms. Gregory left a deep impression in “Shining River,” her sound rich and fully present."

- The New York Times

"...the (Britten) Sinfonietta, an exuberant compact work in three movements that provides wonderful opportunities for soloistic display, (was) well handled here by Catherine Gregory, flutist...the Keats setting “What Is More Gentle Than a Wind in Summer?” was particularly gorgeous, with, again, wonderful contributions from those woodwind players."

- The New York Times

Photo by Dario Acosta

"The flutist Catherine Gregory had a magically mysterious solo in the 'Air Sicilian.'"

- The New York Times

"The major work on the program was Dimitri Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony, Op 47. The work is difficult to play and, being so well-known, invites comparison with other interpretations. The young Australians, however, had nothing to fear from comparisons. Their rendition was of a professional level. From the first to the last bar, the orchestra delivered a convincing, high voltage performance with beautiful solo contributions from the principal flute."